Do you have any advice or any information of anything else I can read up on or research before making such a permanent decision on an unknown property?

Don't bother the HR department unless they are signing the lease (fat chance of that happening).

Remember IRS does require you to keep receipts and invoices to make sure your not buying personal stuff along with your materials from Home Depot but you can just stuff those in a spot in your wallet and throw them in a shoe box at home when your wallet gets too fat, so you can go back and dig them out if your audited.

@Daniel DeMarco One of the IRS tests for the classification of Section 1245 (personal) property is called the "INHERENTLY PERMANENT TEST" in which the cost of items that are not inherent parts of a permanent, non-movable structure may qualify as personal property.

Carpets even when treated delicately only last a handful of years, even a moderate spill can do permanent damage to the padding underneath unless you pull it all up and dry it.I assume you mean in your garage you did that?

We want to have a permanent patio built onto our house (Fremont, CA). 

Hey community. I'll try to make a long story short. We currently have 5 acres with an occupied mobile home that we owe $35k. We signed a contract with a local reputable builder for a new home in August. Base price of ...

Sometimes the bank committee members are developers themselves or real estate investors themselves which helps as they understand the business in depth.Make sure with the construction loan you have built in extensions spelled out with what rate and also you have the freedom to choose what permanent loan you want to go with or have the right to sell.Some banks will give  a great construction loan but when it converts to perm the terms are bad or marginal at best.

Assuming you qualify, take the cash out refi.The HELOC has two problems for people thinking long term: (1) the rate is variable and (2) the bank can close the LOC so you can't borrow any more at any point they choose.The only advantages (all only beneficial in the short term) I can think of is that the HELOC will be cheaper to originate, will temporarily have lower interest rate (assuming rates rise by >0.5% or so), and you don't have to deal with re-investing the loan proceeds while you're waiting to find a permanent investment.

The short answer: Are you a permanent resident or citizen of Italy?